Atomic Bomb Dbq Essay

government stays adamant that there were no other options to prompt Japan to surrender, this is simply untrue. General H.H. Arnold, Commander of the American Air Force during WW2, revealed that their “[prevention of] the arrival of incoming cargo of critical items… had made it impossible for Japan to carry on a large-scale war…”(Source B). Here he explains that the US strategy to cut off supplies severely weakened Japan’s defenses. This shows that if the U.S. had kept steady with these non-violent tactics, the war could have been ended just as easily as with a weapon. In addition, the U.S. was planning a land invasion of Japan to induce their speedy surrender.

Japan was very close to collapsing and they knew that if they didn’t make this agreement they would have to fight till the death, which is exactly what they did, Japan chose not to surrender. People also believe that Truman was justified to use the bomb because people believe that if he didn’t Japan would have used theirs and then we would have been hurting. Japan was very close to discovering this weapon and would have been very quick to use it. All of this was simply a race and the survival of the

In late July of 1945 at the Potsdam Conference, the Allied leaders gave the Japanese a chance to surrender, and they totally rejected it (Doc. 1). After the American invasion of Iwo Jima, the Japanese defenders felt discouraged and defeated, as well as desperate to do whatever it took to win (Doc. D). So, by dropping the bomb and ending the war quickly, the opportunity for the Japanese to brutally attack the U.S in a desperate scramble to win was eliminated. Although Japan would need to use money to rebuild the destroyed areas, ending the war saved both sides from spending even more trying to clutch the victory, as the United States alone spent over 4 trillion dollars on the war (Harrington, John and Suneson, Grant.). In all, both sides were relieved by dropping the atomic bomb and ending the war more

This caused Japan to surrender, and World War 2 ended. The atomic bomb was justified because the U.S. needed Japan to surrender to end the war. The atomic bomb was justified because it was one of the possible ways to end the war with Japan. Document 1, says “They concluded that no technical demonstration they might propose, such as over a deserted island, would be likely to bring the war to an end”. This indicates that there was no other way of using the same strategies, such as island hopping, which was to capture the surrounding islands to invade Japan.

“Lewis estimates that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the extent that it induced Japanese surrender, saved the lives of roughly 30 million people” (Dr. Daniel McIntosh). In the press release announcing the dropping of the atomic bomb Truman made a statement that would strongly support the dropping of the bomb. He states, “We have used it to shorten the agony of the war, in order to save the lives of thousands of young Americans.” World War 2 was an agonizing war that America helped. On Top of saving American lives, lives of all nationalities were saved with the end of the

If they dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, they would not have to worry about them fighting back and would not have to keep making more weapons just to defeat the Japanese. It is expensive to manufacture weapons over and over, dropping the atomic bomb would just be a one time thing and it would save time as well. Also, If the Americans and Japanese fought on the island of Kyushu, then more Americans would die as well, if they dropped the atomic bomb then lots of lives would be saved. Also, Nicholas Kristoff said that military officials were likely to fight on, furiously, until the end willing to "Sacrifice 20 million Japanese lives," as late as August of 1945.” (Doc. I)

Japan also attacked the U.S ships in the Pacific Theater using Kamikaze pilots (Doc. C). Japan also showed the U.S they were willing to kill themselves and sacrifice their own people to destroy Americans. The U.S offered an ultimatum but Japan refused it and didn’t accept the terms (Doc. I). In the same way as the ultimatum, there were also many warnings. At the point in the war before the droppings, surrendering was a clear option.

Therefore, it was necessary for the US to drop the bomb on Japan during WWII because not dropping it would have prolonged the war and caused more casualties. For example, May and Astore’s artcle "Atomic Bomb: Was the Atomic Bombing Are Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified?” argues, “The employment of the atomic bomb was the culmination of a U.S. attempt to end the Pacific war as quickly as possible by all military means available.” This illustrates how the war was at such a high priority to the world that the US made a tough decision and decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end world war II as quickly as possible. On the other hand, the US dropping the atomic bomb started the cold war. Dropping the bomb ended one war while starting another, causing even more loss of life and plunged the world into another war.

Japan was weakening, “The food situation gradually becoming worse and worse…” Stated in source H. America had many industrial resources to use against Japan and so Japan had essentially been defeated. Japan pushed only for the sake of their countries honour as the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour. Furthermore a warning was given to Japan with America promising to drop the atomic bomb, however there was no evidence and so it could have easily been deemed a bluff. An American nuclear scientist stated, “A demonstration of the bomb best be made… Japan could then be asked to surrender.” This source seems somewhat reliable as it is from one of the American scientists and they would know the strength of the bomb.

Soon the U.S was attacked by Japan. The President then decided to drop the atomic bomb to end this war and quickly. The use of the atomic bomb on Japan was justified because it ended the war, was a better alternative than the others given, and helped save lives. The atomic bomb used on Japan was justified because it ended the war.

In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.

If Japan agreed to the declaration, America would not drop the atomic bomb and Japan would

First, many lives of American soldiers were saved. One unique perspective of this is from Professor Paul Fussell, who without the bombs would have had to invade Tokyo, and would most likely have died. As Paul Fussell said in response to hearing the news of the bombs, ”We were going to live. We were going to grow to adulthood after all”(Doc. H).

President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.

The dropping of the atomic bombs on World War II on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very important part of World War II. The atomic bomb ended the war between America and Japan. This was just one of the important events during the battle in World War II. The Battle at Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked U.S. soil was also why the americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb.